Johnny Depp to Play Whitey Bulger in Black Mass

The saga of Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger has garnered the attention of several filmmakers -- including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who want to direct and star in, respectively, a film about him -- but now the biggest name yet has become attached to a biopic about Bulger.

None other than Johnny Depp is now attached to play Bulger in Black Mass, Cross Creek and Exclusive Media's long-gestating adaptation of the book by reporters Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill. Mark Mallouk wrote the script. Production will begin this May.

Oscar winner Barry Levinson (Bugsy) is attached to direct. (Levinson had previously been attached a John Gotti biopic with John Travolta and Al Pacino that fell apart.) Universal Pictures will distribute.

James "Whitey" Bulger, an Irish street punk in Boston with a penchant for rape and robbery, spent much of his early life incarcerated, including a stint at Alcatraz in the 1950's where he was the subject of a CIA experiment using LSD for mind-control. When released, Whitey returned to his thug lifestyle and eventually rose to power in organized crime by using his FBI informant status to bring down the Italian mafia in New England. He and his fellow hood Steve Flemmi, fed incriminating information on the Italian mob to FBI agents John J. Connolly Jr. and Dick Morris, allowing them to make highly publicized arrests while Bulger filled the void in the upper echelon of Boston organized crime. Whitey Bulger reigned as crime boss into the 1990's until a corruption investigation disgraced Morris, who admitted to taking bribes from Bulger and, with Connolly's alleged assistance, aided and abetted criminal activities involving narcotics, extortion, and murder. Bulger escaped arrest [and had been missing until his arrest in June 2011].

“I could not be more thrilled to have the biggest star in the world and Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson to finally bring this incredible story to the big screen,” said Cross Creek’s Brian Oliver in a statement from the European Film Market in Berlin. “We have been working on this project since we originally optioned the book in 2005. Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this highly complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston’s underbelly and its corrupt political machine, as well as exposing the worst scandal in FBI history. It’s also an examination of loyalty to family, Irish heritage, and South Boston.”

Depp's no stranger to true crime films having starred in Donnie Brasco and Public Enemies, where he played the notorious John Dillinger. He played another real-life Massachusetts-raised criminal in Blow.

Other Whitey Bulger movies in various stages of development include Street Soldier, The Winter Hill Gang, Rat Bastards and a biopic of Bulger hit man John Martorano. Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed was modeled after Bulger.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter claims Black Mass "puts into question Transcendence, which was to be Depp's next movie. That project, a sci-fi thriller to be directed by Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister, is awaiting a rewrite of its script." Christopher Nolan is exec producing Transcendence.